Many introductory dangerous goods courses are built for aviation. They cover the ICAO Technical Instructions, Annex 18 to the Chicago Convention and the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. Those are the rules for air transport. They are not the rules for a driver carrying dangerous goods by road in Great Britain. On the road you work under ADR, applied in GB by the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations. The core idea is the same in both regimes, but the thresholds, documents and duties are different. This post takes the usual “awareness” topics and answers them for road.
What counts as dangerous goods
ADR 1.2.1 defines dangerous goods as substances and articles whose carriage is either prohibited by ADR or allowed only under the conditions ADR sets. A lot of them are ordinary products:
| Everyday product | Typical ADR class | Main hazard |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 3 | Flammable liquid |
| Paint and many adhesives | 3 | Flammable liquid |
| Aerosols | 2 | Gas under pressure, often flammable |
| Gas cylinders | 2 | Compressed, liquefied or dissolved gas |
| Bleach (hypochlorite solution) | 8 | Corrosive |
| Oven and drain cleaners | 8 | Corrosive |
| Many pesticides | 6.1 (sometimes 3) | Toxic |
| Chemical oxygen generators | 5.1 | Oxidising, heat-producing |
The class in this table is only a general guide. The correct classification for a particular product comes from its UN number and the consignor’s declaration, not from its name on the shelf. Our guide to the ADR classes explains each class in detail.
Who writes the rules, by mode
The air courses trace their rules back to the UN, and so does ADR. All the transport modes start from the same UN Model Regulations and then split into separate rulebooks:
| Mode | International rules | Where they come from |
|---|---|---|
| Road | ADR | UNECE agreement, revised every two years (current edition ADR 2025) |
| Rail | RID | OTIF |
| Sea | IMDG Code | IMO |
| Air | ICAO Technical Instructions / IATA DGR | ICAO, with IATA’s field manual |
In Great Britain, ADR applies to road carriage through the domestic regulations above. If you have an IATA or IMDG certificate, you are not qualified to drive an ADR load. The reverse is also true.
Why the rules differ between air and road
Air-freight training points out that a crew can do very little once an aircraft is in flight. On the road you can usually stop the vehicle. That changes where the controls sit, but it does not make them any weaker:
| Factor | Air | Road (ADR) |
|---|---|---|
| Response to an incident in transit | Almost none until landing | Stop, secure the vehicle, raise the alarm |
| Crew emergency guidance | Airline procedures | Instructions in writing, carried in the cab (5.4.3) |
| Hazard communication | Package labels | Package labels plus orange plates and placards (5.3) |
| Load thresholds | Per-package air limits | 1.1.3.6 points calculation for packages |
| Carriage documents | Shipper’s declaration | ADR transport document (5.4.1) |
| Crew equipment | Aircraft equipment | Vehicle and crew equipment under 8.1.5 |
The two air incidents these courses usually describe still teach useful lessons for road work. In one, expired oxygen generators were loosely packed and shipped without being declared. That was a failure by the consignor, and ADR 1.4.2.1 puts classification, packaging and documentation on the consignor. In the other, a corrosive leak was mistaken for water and bags from the same hold were moved onto other flights. A driver should never make that assumption. Treat any unknown leak as dangerous: stay upwind, keep people away, follow the instructions in writing and call the emergency services. Do not clean up a spill you have not identified, and do not move it or pass it on.
Awareness training versus the driver certificate
Everyone involved in carrying dangerous goods needs training suited to their role. That does not make every trained person qualified to drive:
| Requirement | ADR reference | Who it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| General awareness, function-specific and safety training | 1.3.2 | Everyone whose duties involve dangerous goods, including loaders, packers and office staff |
| Training records kept by the employer | 1.3.3 | Employer |
| Safety obligations proportionate to the foreseeable danger | 1.4.1 | All participants |
| ADR driver training certificate | 8.2.1 | Drivers of vehicles carrying dangerous goods above the relevant exemptions |
A general awareness course does not replace the 8.2 certificate. If the load goes over the 1.1.3.6 threshold, or the carriage is not exempt, the driver must hold a valid ADR certificate for the right route, whether that is packages, tanks or a specialist class. There is no shortcut around this. Our overview of the six ADR training routes sets out which one fits which work.
How ADR Driver Pro Fits Into This
ADR Driver Pro is written for road transport under ADR 2025, not the air or sea rules. The app has 13 modules. The core modules cover definitions, classification, documents, placarding and emergency action, and further modules deal with the individual hazard classes. You can revise for any of the 6 driver routes with the app’s 1820 revision questions, and 110 of them are free.
In practical terms:
- The 5 calculators include the 1.1.3.6 load-points tool, which is also available as a web load-points calculator.
- The 8 quick reference sets let you check a class, label or placard when you’re away from the classroom.
- The 6 field tools are designed to be used next to the transport document and the instructions in writing.
The app helps you revise, but classification and consignment decisions still belong to the consignor, the carrier and the DGSA.
